Divergent Capitalisms

The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

Richard Whitley

Highlights major differences between business systems in Europe and Asia

Considers reasons for their divergence

Presents comparative business systems framework

Draws on empirical work in Asia and East and West Europe

Whitley is leading international theorist in this area

Divergent Capitalisms

The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

Richard Whitley

Description

The late twentieth century has witnessed the establishment of new forms of capitalism in East Asia as well as new market economies in Eastern Europe. Despite the growth of international investment and capital flows, these distinctive business systems remain different from each other and from those already developed in Europe and the Americas. This continued diversity of capitalism results from, and is reproduced by, significant differences in societal institutions and agencies such as the state, capital and labour markets, and dominant beliefs about trust, loyalty, and authority.

This book presents the comparative business systems framework for describing and explaining the major differences in economic organization between market economies in the late twentieth century. This framework identifies the critical variations in coordination and control systems across forms of industrial capitalism, and shows how these are connected to major differences in their institutional contexts. Six major types of business system are identified and linked to different institutional arrangements. Significant differences in post-war East Asian business systems and the ways in which these are changing in the 1990s are analysed within this framework, which is also extended to compare the path-dependent nature of the new capitalisms emerging in Eastern Europe.

Divergent Capitalisms

The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

Richard Whitley

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction 1: Varieties of CapitalismPart II: The Comparative Business Systems Framework 2: The Nature of Business Systems and their Institutional Structuring 3: The Social Structuring of Firms' Governance Systems and Organizational Capabilities 4: The Social Structuring of Work Systems 5: Globalization and Business SystemsPart III: The Development and Change of Business Systems in East Asia and Eastern Europe 6: Divergent Capitalisms in East Asia: The Development of the Post-War Business Systems of South Korea and Taiwan 7: Continuity and Change in East Asian Capitalisms 8: Path Dependence and Emergent Capitalisms in Eastern Europe: Hungary and Slovenia Compared 9: Enterprise Change and Continuity in a Transforming Society: The Case of Hungary

Divergent Capitalisms

The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

Richard Whitley

Author Information

Richard Whitley, Professor of Organizational Sociology at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

Divergent Capitalisms

The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

Richard Whitley

Reviews and Awards

"This book helps to put to bed the idea that there is just one, market-based model of economic growth ... This is a first rate analysis which will help shape future comparative analysis of business systems ... a stimulating book which has much to offer the field ... It is good sociology." - Work, Employment & Society

"This book is good news for those of us working at the boundaries of sociology and economics. It provides the type of comparative analysis of institutions and structures reminiscent of that pioneered by the founding fathers of sociology." - Work, Employment & Society

"The outstanding feature of Richard Whitley's book is its attempt to take a systemic view of the complex process through which distinctive patterns of economic organisation emerge." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"For those interested in the workings of the interconnected world and notions of globalisation, this book provides a valuable perspective on the parallel emergence of diverse forms of economic organisation." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"Richard Whitley's book makes a important contribution to (this) debate ... This new book not only brings together the ideas expounded in earlier publications in a new way but also significantly expands and deepens the theoretical framework." - Work, Employment and Society